Governor Nasir El-Rufai has condemned the practice of paying ransoms to kidnappers, saying he won’t involve in such practice even if his son is kidnapped.
The governor during a radio interview on Friday, April 9, 2021, said he would rather pay for his son to make heaven.
El-Rufai said, “I mean it and I will say it again here. Even if my son is kidnapped, I will rather pray for him to make heaven instead, because I won’t pay any ransom.”
The governor said his administration is not considering paying ransom to secure the release of the students abducted by bandits from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, in March.
He said his government is “absolutely not paying ransom” but promised to consider other means to ensure the students are returned to their parents.
This is coming barely 24 hours after the governor said bandits must be wiped out entirely because they have lost the right to life.
El-Rufai said this during a town hall meeting on national security organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture held in Kaduna.
“These bandits have lost their right to life under our constitution and must be wiped out in their entirety. There is no other way to approach the current insurgency situation today as far as governmental action is concerned.
“The bandits are at war with Nigeria and there is no other way to approach the current insurgency but for security forces to take the war to the bandits and recover forests where they are occupying.
“The security agencies mostly react to cases of banditry and abduction, we are in a war with these terrorist challenging the sovereignty of the Nigerian state,” he said.
The governor urged security forces to collaborate to take the war to the bandits and terrorists and restore the forest to enable citizens to engage in legitimate farming and livestock production.
Source: Pulse Nigeria
